Danton

Set in 1793, during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, Danton follows the lawyer Georges Danton as he leaves his quiet retreat in the countryside and returns to Paris. There he confronts Maximilien Robespierre, once his close ally in the revolutionary struggle, who now governs with a policy of mass execution against anyone deemed an enemy. Danton, known as a voice of the people, calls for an end to the bloodshed and for ordinary citizens to claim their rights. Robespierre treats this challenge as a threat and moves to have Danton and his supporters arrested and tried. The film dramatizes the confrontation between the two men, culminating in Danton's political trial and his execution by guillotine.

Andrzej Wajda directed, working from a screenplay he wrote with Jean-Claude Carrière and Agnieszka Holland. The film came roughly midway through the career listed here, arriving twenty-five years after Ashes and Diamonds and five years before The Possessed. Gérard Depardieu plays Danton and Wojciech Pszoniak plays Robespierre, with Patrice Chéreau as Camille Desmoulins, Angela Winkler as Lucile Desmoulins and Roland Blanche as Lacroix among a credited cast of thirty-two. It was a German, Polish and French co-production from Gaumont and Zespół Filmowy "X", running 136 minutes.

Reception has been solid across sources. On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from around 8,400 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9/10 from a much smaller 179 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8/10 from thirteen reviews places professional assessment slightly above the wider audience scores.